Guardian Of The Grove (17 page)

I
spent
the car ride to the sanctuary in silence. There was just too much that I needed to sort out before what was going to happen. Everything that I had been trained to uphold was about to get tossed in the shredder. My life would never be the same, win or lose.

We lived our entire lives in service to the grove. All of us were trained to protect it and willing to give our lives to make sure that it wasn’t harmed in any way. Outsiders were traditionally forbidden, so I had already bent the rules. Now I was about to strain them until they broke.

Shalana had been in charge of our grove for so long that multiple generations of our kind were beholden to her. She had always been the light, and despite her age, she adapted very well as the world changed around her. She had trained me personally as I was growing up, teaching me the ways of our people. Her captain of the guard had instructed me on how to fight. I felt as if she was another part of my family.

I could do this; I had to. No one else was willing to admit what was staring them right in the face. All of them wanted to remember the old Shalana. Shit, so did I. That didn’t mean I could ignore what was happening. That Shalana was gone now and what remained in her place was a twisted and broken husk. If no one else would act, then I had to. For our people, for the grove. It was too important to be ruled by someone so damaged.

“Alby, we’re here,” Jackson said.

He reached out a hand to help me down from the Jeep. I ignored it and hopped out over the tire on the back. It wouldn’t do me any good to appear weak now. I needed to distance myself from my new friends. No one could question my motives for what was about to happen. After this was all over, I would need the Grove’s support more than ever.

“Follow me,” I said without looking back.

Last night we had come up with a rudimentary plan for what was going to happen today. So I wasn’t surprised when all of them fell in behind me. Still, they did it so seamlessly that I couldn’t help but smile. That smile was quickly washed away as my uncle rushed out of the building and headed straight for me.

“Thank God you’re back, Alby. Shalana has been going out of her mind waiting for you. She said she felt the demise of the wendigo and couldn’t understand why you didn’t come straight back to her with the prize.”

“Uncle, we can’t let her have the heart.” He frowned, and his face grew red with anger. I stopped him before he could get started. “You know as well as I do that something is wrong with her. This heart is pure evil. Would the Shalana you knew ever ask for such a thing?”

“No, but there is another complication,” he muttered, the anger seeming to leave him in a single breath.

“Of course there is.” I was starting to lose my cool, and I would need every ounce of my patience later. “Tell me what has happened now.”

“She has your parents. She brought them in until you returned.”

“Why would she do that?”

“She said she wanted to keep them close in case something happened to you.”

“What a load of shit. And you just stood by and let them be taken?”

“She sent her personal guards. Assaulting them is the same as an assault on the grove itself.”

“We need to get in there now.”

“Follow me. I was sent to retrieve you. I can get us into the room without any problems.”

We all started to move forward, and my uncle stopped and turned toward my friends. “You must stay here.”

Before I could answer, Jackson was in his face. “That isn’t going to happen. If Shalana wants the heart, we have it. We go where Alby goes, or else it gets destroyed.”

He cast a glance at me. Not seeing what he wanted to, he turned back to Jackson. “Fine, but stay silent. This matter doesn’t concern you.”

“That is where you are wrong, Uncle. What happens today concerns all of us.”

He looked at me for a moment, and some of the fire bled out of his gaze before he turned and headed back inside the building. We followed him in, and I felt extremely grateful that I wasn’t alone. She had taken my parents to do what? Send me a message. Well, she was going to be the one surprised when she found out what was going to happen next.

We followed my uncle through the caverns. It was a path I had walked so many times, I could have found my way blindfolded. This place had always been my home. We grew our food here; our children played and learned the ways of our people here. To see our way of life failing was crushing. The thought of it sat like a weight on my shoulders. I reached down inside of myself and found the resolve I had been lacking all morning. I was going to challenge her, and I was going to win.

When we entered the sacred grove, my uncle stepped to the side. He didn’t want to be seen with us, and really, I couldn’t blame him. Oh, screw that. I blamed him plenty. If he had any sense of duty or family, he would be standing with us. It was his brother who was surrounded by guards. What kind of man stood by and watched his brother get taken, and then led his only niece to what he must have thought was going to be a slaughter?

Shalana eased herself off of the throne and made her way slowly down the steps. The guardians, twenty-five to each side of the throne, stood at attention, their spears held at their sides. Two more guards stood watch over my parents. All of that I had expected after speaking with my uncle. What I didn’t expect to see were the elders also gathered in the room. What could they possibly be doing here?

Shalana reached us, and a repulsive smile crossed her features. “So the concurring heroes have finally decided to grace us with their presence. We have been waiting for your return.”

I dropped to one knee. For now at least, it seemed that I should still show the proper respect. Until those spears were off of my parents, I was at her mercy. “We came as quickly as we could, Guardian. I apologize for any delay.”

“As long as you have secured the heart, then all will be forgiven.”

Her eye turned to Jackson as he motioned toward Marcus. Marcus passed the steel container to Jackson and stepped back. Shalana watched him like a predator savoring the moment before a kill. Jackson stood before her, calm and composed, as if none of this was of great concern to him. It was impressive to see him so in control of his emotions.

“Guardian Shalana, I have the heart of the wendigo.” Shalana reached out her hand for the small container. Jackson moved it away from her. “May I ask what you are going to use it for?”

She hissed before her face pulled back into its calm mask of supremacy. “That is my business and none of yours.”

“I’m afraid that I cannot relinquish the heart to you without an explanation.”

The guardian turned her nasty gaze back toward me. I felt her eyes piercing me, almost as if she was tearing into my soul. “What is the meaning of this, young one?”

I moved back to my feet in front of her. A small rumbling of talking filled the space as the elders watched my act of defiance. “You ask me for the meaning of my actions when you keep my parents under the spear. You want me to justify myself when you opened the veil for the wendigo in the first place. I want you to tell me what you plan to use its heart for.”

Shalana stepped back. “Guards!” she shouted. Fifty men as one lowered their spears into a fighting positon. “Kill them and retrieve the heart.”

I cast a glance toward the elders. None of them made a move to counteract the order she had just given. I had hoped to avoid the conflict, even though I knew it was inevitable. I did the only thing that was left to do. “I challenge you to Arshenik. You are unfit to lead our people. May the gods decide the outcome of the grove.”

A hush fell over the cavern. The guards raised their spears, and the two men who had my parents let them go. They ran to me, and when they got there, both of them pulled me into a hug. “Are you ok?” was all I managed to squeak out.

“We are fine, but what have you done?” my father asked.

“She did what she had to, dear,” my mother said. She had always been the practical one in our family.

“Thanks, Mom. You two should leave. I want to know you’ll be safe if I lose.”

“We aren’t going anywhere,” my mom said, pulling me into another hug. “Make us proud.”

She took my father’s hand and led him away. He didn’t say a word; he seemed shell-shocked. What was happening now would affect all of us in ways that we wouldn’t know of for years. I hoped they would be ok.

The captain of the guard stepped forward after motioning two of his men to go and retrieve the ceremonial weapons. He looked at me, and I could almost see the hint of a smile at the edge of his lips. Right before he spoke, the hint of any happiness disappeared. “You have challenged Shalana, the guardian of our grove, to Arshenik. Do you stand by your accusations?”

“I do.”

He turned toward Shalana. “And Guardian, do you wish to defend yourself against them?”

“I do.”

“Then the challenge of Arshenik has been accepted. Each of you may select a weapon.”

The soldier had brought out the silver ceremonial spears. They had been created two millennia ago and gifted to the grove by the old gods. I waited, letting Shalana pick her weapon first. Once she had selected, I accepted the remaining spear from the guard and stepped back. The spear glowed with a faint green light as I touched it. I took that as a sign the gods were on my side.

One guard moved forward and escorted Shalana into position ten feet away. The captain stood between us. “There is only one way Arshenik can be resolved, and that is by death. The gods will decide who is worthy to rule our grove.” He walked out of the circle and placed the butt of his spear on the edge of it. He tapped it against something on the ground, and a magical dome rose around us. It wouldn’t fall until one of us was no longer breathing.

I hated the fact that I had lied to Jackson. He had no idea the fight would have been to the death. It was the only way that I could think of to protect my people. Our future was worth more to me than my life. I spared him a quick glance, and he raised his hand in salute. He hadn’t known, but even after my small betrayal, he stayed to support me.

Shalana tried to capitalize on my moment of distraction. She lunged in for an attack. I easily turned her spear to the side and hit her in the face with the butt of my spear. I almost wasn’t sure if that had been a real attempt to kill me or not. It was clumsy and awkward enough that it felt as if it almost hadn’t been
intentional.
Shalana had been training with a spear for hundreds of years. There was no way she missed like that.

Maybe if she had forgotten so much about herself, she had also forgotten how to fight. I kept my eyes on her as we circled each other. I tested her defenses with strikes that any of our first-year students could have deflected easily. She blocked two of the three, but wildly and off balance. The third strike clipped her shoulder, and blood was drawn. Something was wrong with her blood; it oozed black against her pale white skin. Where it came into contact with the barrier, it hissed and spit, almost as if it were acid.

“I guess the game is up, isn’t it?” The words gurgled from her mouth almost as if it was full of water. “I was surprised just how long you fools took to figure it out.” Laughter peeled from her lips, and as it did, it changed tone, becoming deeper and more menacing. She ripped the symbol of our grove away from her neck and tossed it at my feet. “It won’t do you much good now; I hope it was worth it, little princess.”

Her skin started to crack and peel away from her body. I rushed forward and planted my spear into where her chest used to be. The thing in front of me let out a scream. When I pulled out the spear, more of the black blood came out of the wound. What in the hell was I fighting? The wound I had dealt sealed itself, and the creature’s bubbling laughter continued.

Jackson was pounding on the outside of the barrier, but couldn’t get in. I knew it wouldn’t fall until one of us was dead. It was old magic, and as far as I knew, no one had ever circumvented it. The magic must still be sensing that both of us were alive. If nothing else, that meant whatever was in here could die. That small glimmer of hope was all I needed; it drove me to action.

The creature in front of me unfolded its wings from behind its back. It stood nearly seven feet tall and had a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. I think you could still call it a mouth; it was more of a maw now. It definitely wasn’t one of the Fae anymore. It still stood on two legs and had two arms; its skin was a pale gray, and it shimmered slightly in the light. A lizard-like tongue flicked out of its mouth, tasting the air.

“Faeeer,” it hissed. “Goood.”

Jackson managed to get its attention for a second. He was holding out the wendigo’s heart in his hand. The blue heart beat against his fingers. Jackson squeezed it, and the creature in front of me cried out and threw itself against the magical shield. Its body sizzled when it touched the magic, but it couldn’t break through.

I waited for the right opportunity and thrust my spear into the beast's side. It turned lightning fast, ripping the spear and sending it and me flying across the circle. I landed on the other side of our arena and climbed shakily back to my feet. The creature howled at me and then turned its attention back to Jackson. I wasn’t sure another thrust from a spear was going to do anything, but what choice did I have? The only advantage I had now was that it was in a mindless rage, trying to get through the shield.

The necklace on the floor glimmered in the light. I reached down and scooped it up from the floor. The chain had been broken, but as soon as I touched it, vines filled in the missing links. I put the necklace on and felt the power of our people surge through me. I leaned my spear against the barrier and picked up the one the creature had discarded when it dropped its pretense of being Shalana.

The spear felt right in my hand. The weight of it was perfectly balanced. I hefted it a few times, just to get a feel for it, and then I called on the power in the necklace. When I let the spear fly, it covered the distance to the creature in a heartbeat. The spear went through the beast’s back and exploded out of its chest. I could see a smile break out on Jackson’s face as he realized what happened. April jumped forward and hugged him, and Marcus gave him a high five.